Lies and Illusions. 2009. USA.

If you ever wanted a movie which shout cliche attack this is it.

Self-help author played by Christian Slater, who looks like he couldn't help himself out of a wet paper bag, is engaged to a woman who suddenly is abducted and appears to be dead, yeah right and then one year later a whole series of action events happen to get us underwhelmed.

The cliches are so obvious that during a chase sequence the good guys get away by running out onto a road where all of a sudden there is a St Patrick's day parade march going on - well that was handy wasn't it!!!

A very silly movie which was below average.

Cuba Gooding Jr. = 17/40.

Lochlyn Munro = 08/52.

My rating = 4/10.

The Road. 2009. USA.

Post apocalyptic movie which is very bleak in its look, feel and outlook.

Some sort of cataclysmic event has blocked the sun, and therefore wiped out all the plants and then the animals and a small number of humans are wandering around either in small groups surviving or as cannibalistic gangs.

Sounds totally awful but is filmed in a quite beautiful style and some great performances from Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron in a small role, and the stand out for me Aussie child actor Kodi Smitt McPhee who really carried the movie.

It was a very good movie, but the bleakness and with no hope of a future evident, even the somewhat uplifting ending was quite muted.

Charlize Theron = 18/31.

Video Ezy May New Releases = 26/32.

My rating = 7/10.

The Haunting in Connecticut. 2009. USA.

Another horror movie which is meant to be based on real events. I really doubt these so called stories and this one, as you watch it you just keep saying words like as if!

Recently a girl at my place of employment had a photo of her phone of what was meant to be a ghost - a girl in hazy outline who was not among the people being photographed. When I expressed my doubts I was told no, no this is true.

People will willingly believe an obviously doctored photograph before believing the truth of the Bible. The same here in what is an obvious crack pot tale and uses the same cliches all horror movies use.

Apparently ghosts bang doors and run around making loud noises, the only thing missing here were the chains being rattled.

The only upside was the acting which was well done by Virginia Madsen and Kyle Gallner and it was good to see journey man actor Elias Koteas, even if his character was the obvious Reverend character, who looked like he had never opened a Bible in his life.

Overall another dodgy based on real events ghost story,

My rating = 4/10.

The Devil's Tomb. 2009. USA.

Hollywood should seriously stop mining the Bible for their stupid horror movies!!!

A story of an elite group of soldiers, (is their any other kind in action movies?) on a covert mission (also any other kind?) to an underground facility (is their any facilities in the open air?) to encounter an evil force (never an ambivalent force) which stems from the verse in Genesis where it says the sons of God lay with the daughters of men. Never mind that this has an altogether different meaning than what the movie makers have assumed but you know why let reality interfere in a story.

The inaccuracy is so bad at some point the character known as Doc who by the end you want to slap says about a quote oh it is in the old testament - Hebrews 9:22 - Hebrews is in the New Testament - small error but telling as well.

Overall this was alternately a dumb and bring movie and what happened to the characters - well we stopped caring long before the credits rolled.

Cuba Gooding Jr. = 16/40.

My rating = 2/10.

A Shot in the Dark. 1935. USA.

A very unspectacular crime melodrama which is quite dull, falls into the camp of interest only for who is in it (the who not what sub-genre as defined by The Outsiders) with a supporting role being played by one Eddie Tamblyn.

Who is Eddie Tamblyn? Well himself, not that much can be said, an actor who mainly appeared in small roles in only 19 movies from 1931 - 1938 and died in 1957.

He was though the father of Russ Tamblyn who was amongst other things in West Side Story and later played the psychiatrist in Twin Peaks, and then his daughter, and Eddie's granddaughter is Amber Tamblyn, famous for being Joan of Joan of Arcadia and now an up and coming movie actress.

So there is a Tamblyn dynasty at work here!!

As for the movie itself, well pretty ordinary murder mystery movie with not much excitement, this was the morning movie on TVS, the community channel, and at lease one channel in Sydney is showing movies on a regular basis.

Eddie Tamblyn = 03/19.

My rating = 4/10.

The Getaway. 1972. USA.

Steve McQueen shows all his cool moves in this slow burning action movie. Not as intense as the publicity machine tells us it is, but nicely crafted and plenty of chase scenes to satisfy an aficionado of them.

Ali MacGraw who was always a model turned actress does fine in her role and the scenes around Texas really are a highlight to the movie.

Slim Pickens in a small role is a scene stealer.

Overall a good solid entertaining movie, if a bit slow at times, and a bit long.

Steve McQueen = 11/29.

My rating = 7/10.

The Yards. 2000. USA.

Melodramatic goings on in slightly overindulged movie of innocent man on the lam and corruption in the railway industry.

Not much of a story but lifted by some nice acting, particularly from Phoenix and from Charlize Theron in a small role.

Overall an average movie.

Mark Wahlberg = 18/24.

Joaquin Phoenix = 17/23.

Charlize Theron = 17/31.

My rating = 6/10.

Aliens in the Attic. 2009. USA.

Expectations can be a powerful thing, and so for some reason I was expecting this to be an animated movie and was quite surprised to see a live action movie, with the Aliens looking like Muppet's.

Which brings about another hang-up - I can't take a Muppet/human interaction seriously. The Muppets as a show was fun, the movies were largely fun, but not as a serious thing. It was why I could never get into the series Farscape. So the Muppet/human interaction here just looked silly.

Also the title of the movie led me to believe that it was about Aliens living in an attic and I made a whole plot in my mind, none of which had any relation, it turns out to the reality of this movie which was about some sort of alien invasion being planned and scout aliens needing to go under the house to get some device under ground and so started from the attic.

The movie was quite dumb and had the normal gags and scenes you would expect, there was nothing overtly grabbing in it though and on the whole was below average.

JK Simmons = 26/41.

My rating = 5/10.

Tenure. 2009. USA.

Luke Wilson and Gretchen Mol star in predictable, but gentle romantic comedy about competing professors in a US college for tenure.

Inventive spin on the genre in parts, along with fine acting and the vibe of the movie lift it above the norm.

Bob Gunton (the warden from Shawshank) in a small role as Luke Wilson's father is very good and the rest of the cast shine alone with him. Luke is probably always going to be known as Owen's brother, but I think he is the better actor.

Bob Gunton = 18/40.

My rating = 7/10.

2:22. 2008. Canada.

The story of a robbery, the planning, the actual robbery, and the aftermath.

It is a robbery of a hotel, and in the robbery the careful plans are changed by the hotel guests which results in repercussions after the robbery.

Val Kilmer is the standout in a small role, and Gabriel Byrne flies under the radar in an uncredited performance.

Overall it is average, and not something truly memorable, and one person said it has been done before and done better.

Val Kilmer = 19/54.

My Rating = 6/10.

The Good Son. 1993.USA.

Macaulay Culkin payed against type here in battle of two boys as evil son faces good cousin in this average thriller.

The young actors, Elijah Wood's eighth movie and Macauley Culkin's ninth, did very well, and there is a couple ,of other Culkin kids present in small roles.

The movie overall was quite predictable and really only blind parenting could avoid to see how evil that kid was, although having said that blind parenting seems to be more of an art form these days.

Average!

Elijah Wood = 27/34.

David Morse = 14/35

My rating = 6/10.

The Way of War. 2009. USA.

Political thriller with some action of operative going on a rampage after discovering a conspiracy to commit war.

That is what they say it is about, but it is more of a reflective, mood piece with some leaps of logic to get to the above plot statement.

Some parts are good, but there are too many missing pieces which I am sure the author understood but did not convey to us. It was obvious the writer and director were the same as well.

Cuba Gooding Jr did well in an understated performance and it is always good to see JK Simmons.

Overall below average.

JK Simmons = 25/41.

Video Ezy May New Releases = 22/32.

My rating = 5/10.

The Salton Sea. 2002. USA.

Below average thriller of man who is seeking revenge for the death of his wife and drifts into the drug world, is slightly awkward and unconvincing and because we the audience don't really know what is going on until late in the movie it loses a lot of the impact it could have had.

Not the best, not the worst, but nothing to write home about.

Val Kilmer = 18/54.

Adam Goldberg = 13/31.

Peter Sarsgaard = 16/28.

Meat Loaf Aday = 9/38.

My rating = 5/10.

Dorian Gray. 2009. UK.

Another version of the often told tale of man who trades his soul for eternal youth, as his image in his portrait ages and becomes what his soul really is, ugly and deformed.

Movie is mixed with special effects and goes for the salacious at every chance it can get, but overall is an average retelling of the tale.

Video Ezy May New Releases = 21/32.

My rating = 6/10.

Flying Leathernecks. 1951. USA.

John Wayne and Robert Ryan star in this World War II based adventure yarn about pilots and their missions.

Nice air footage and Wayne does his hard nose commanfder bit again. A mix also of family at home and war overseas.

Some good moments but nothing spectacular.

John Wayne = 35/164.

The Faculty. 1998. USA.

Some movies should not work, they just seem so dumb that there appears to be no way they could work at all, the story of aliens taking over teachers at a local school ala Invasion of the Body Snatchers seems destined to be more stupid than anything, but strangely enough this really works with this movie.

Maybe it is the direction, with Robert Rodriguez, or maybe the cast with Josh Hartnett, Salma Hayek, Famke Janssen, Piper Laurie, Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Patrick, Usher Raymond, Jon Stewart, and Elijah Wood. It is an amazing cast for any movie and really amazing when you think how insane the plot is!

A well made movie, whilst silly is entertaining and a real surprise!

Josh Hartnett = 12/19.

Famke Janssen = 12/31.

Elijah Wood = 26/34.

My rating = 7/10.

Facing Ali. 2009. USA.

Another movie about the boxer Muhammad Ali?

Well that is what you could say in response to this documentary, but this is not just another movie, this is a very interesting documentary, which starts out with ten of Ali's opponents talking about Ali. They also talk about themselves, the era, the controversies, the corruption and many other issues.

It is very interesting stuff, with some great stock footage used.

We only see Ali in archival footage and that actually makes the movie more interesting because we get this different view of Ali, not his own but how others thought of him, and how they think of him today.

Well recommended.

Video Ezy May New Releases = 20/32.

My rating = 7/10.

The Stepfather. 2009. USA.

Remake of the 1987 movie of the same name, is an average thriller with mostly predictable results.

the cast is earnest and there is nothing overtly wrong with the movie, there is though, nothing over special about the movie either.

Overall average.

Dylan Walsh = 06/22.

Video Ezy May New Releases = 19/32.

My rating = 6/10.

Secret Window. 2004. USA.

The cover of this DVD promised a taut tense thriller, which was three lies in three words, it wasn't taut, it wasn't tense and it was not particularly thrilling.

Johnny Depp stars in this thriller about a man terrorised by a stranger (John Turturro) who accuses him of plagiarising his work. There is complications with an es-wife (Maria Bello) and her new partner (Timothy Hutton) of course not everything is as it seems, but that becomes obvious fairly quickly and there is not much spark in this drawn out one note piece.

For me, quite a dull piece lifted slightly by the actors.

Johnny Depp = 32/38.

Maria Bello = 11/26.

My rating = 4/10.

Ghost Machine. 2009. UK.

A UK production with American, Australians and some English people as well, about gamers, military personnel who are playing with virtual reality training software, and set up a big game in an old abandoned prison, where apparently people were tortured in 'rendition' procedures and a ghost from one of the victims infects the game.

If it sounds like a stupid plot, the execution was even worse and it was sadly a terrible movie.

there was not much good about the movie at all, one of the worst of 2009, although that number seems to be building. If 1939 was a red-letter year for Hollywood, 2009 may be its nadir.

Video Ezy May New Releases = 18/32.

My Rating = 2/10.

School Daze. 1988. USA.

A Spike Lee movie is usually confronting, and different to what you would expect. This one is no exception.

This looks at the issues of pledging in American Colleges and also of intra-racism, that being between lighter and darker skinned African-Americans.

They are both fairly foreign concepts to Australians, so it was interesting to watch. The movie was very well paced, and the only problem was it could have actually been longer, and the ending was very abrupt.

The cast led by Laurence Fishburne and Giancarlo Esposito was very good, and good old Samuel L Jackson appears for a small role, in this his fifth movie role.

Overall it was a very good movie.

Laurence Fishburne = 25/48.

Bill Nunn = 20/41.

Samuel L Jackson = 72/91.

My rating = 8/10.

The Sergei Bonerchuk Awards -May 16 2010 - May 22 2010.

WORST MOVIE: Old Dogs.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Logan Lerman (Meet Bill)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jennifer Connelly (Dark City)

BEST ACTOR: Aaron Eckhart (Meet Bill)

BEST ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett (Robin Hood)

BEST DIRECTOR: Scott Sanders (Black Dynamite)

MOST SURPRISING MOVIE: Black Dynamite.

MOST DISAPPOINTING MOVIE: Endgame.

BEST SHORT MOVIE: N/A.

BEST MOVIE: Meet Bill.

Black Dynamite. 2009. USA.

In the 1970's there was a genre of action movies with African American heroes, the genre was known as blacksploitation. Movies such as Cleopatra Jones, Shaft, Black Caesar, and Super Fly.

they were very popular with the black community, so here we are thirty five years after most of these movies were released and we have a part homage, part parody of these movies with Black Dynamite.

this is totally hilarious with over the top action scenes and dialogue. You really need to have seen a blacksploitation movie to enjoy it, but it is very, very amusing indeed.

It is also very dumb, but we knew that, and it does not hide its dumbness, in fact it relishes it! It also did not wear its welcome out, knowing we did not need a long movie, and at a little over eighty minutes was about the perfect length for this type of movie.

Journey man actor Mike Starr is in it, with a cast largely unknown to me, although Arsenio Hall does appear in it.

I thought it was a real hoot!

Mike Starr = 28/86.

Video Ezy May New Releases = 17/32.

My rating = 7/10.

Ticker. 2001. USA.

Action movie based around the bomb squad and mad bomber etc is really terrible, and just plain dumb.

Steven Seagal who has the acting range of a piece of balsa wood, is one of the stars with Tom Sizemore, Jaime Pressly, and Dennis Hopper. Hopper gives the worst Irish accent in movies since the accent in Blood Red, which was by Hopper was well. Perhaps he should give up pretending to be Irish.

The movie was just plain dumb, when it was not boring it was full of explosions, there was nothing engaging in the movie it was just one big mess.

Watch at your own risk!

Dennis Hopper = 24/112.

Ice-T = 06/37.

Joe Spano = 11/20.

My rating = 3/10.

Meet Bill. 2007. USA.

Aaron Eckhart stars as Bill, a man married to wealth, who is basically sick of his life, has a wife who is cheating on him and is wanting more, he reluctantly becomes a mentor to a teenage boy, played by Logan Lerman, in a school program.

In the rest of the movie he learns things, his wife learns things, so does the student, who e only ever know as The Kid. Jessica Alba also is in there as a clothing sales girl who joins them.

Does not sound the best, but actually is quite good, the charismatic performance of Lerman, and the steady performance of Eckhart are the highlight. Alba is very attractive, her acting ability is somewhat limited, but she does a reasonable job here.

Overall there is something to take away here, it is a good solid movie, over time though, one may find that it fades quicker from memory than other movies.

Jessica Alba = 10/19.

Aaron Eckhart = 10/24.

My rating = 7/10.

Defendor. 2009. Canada.

Woody Harrelson plays the title character, 'super-hero' Defendor, fighting against Captain Industry and and his drug distribution network.

Except, Woody is actually Arthur Poppington, an everyday guy who believes he is Defendor. Kat Dennings plays a teenager he befriends, and Sandra Oh plays his psychiatrist.

This sort of movie could easily have been a train wreck, but with the great performances of Dennings, Oh, Elias Koteaas, and in particular Harrelson, this is actually a fine drama, with smatterings of comedy and action.

It is not your regular super-hero movie for sure, but it is an interesting spin on the genre, and in the end a good meditation on what is a hero.

Sandra Oh = 07/28.

Video Ezy May New Releases = 16/32.

My rating = 7/10.

New Jack City. 1991. USA.

Mario Van Peebles makes his directorial debut in this African American gangster drug war movie.

The movie is full of violence and eighties 'black' ghetto music, and a simple story of drugs, and a cop trying to infiltrate, with an ultimately predictable ending right up to the final gun shot!

The movie features a host of African American actors, apart from Van Peebles himself there is Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Bill Nunn, a young Chris Rock and the token 'white guy' Judd Nelson.

For the action fan there was something there, for me it was pretty forgettable and did not draw you in to become really involved with it.

Ice-T = 05/37.

My rating = 5/10.

Dark City. 1998. Australia.

A mix of a science fiction plot mixed with a film-noir style makes for an interesting look to a fairly uninteresting movie.

International leads, and Australians in minor roles in this one, which is popular in some circles, but did not leave this viewer a fan.

Basic plot involves a man struggling with memories of his past, of things he cannot remember, including a wife, whilst in a weird world involving beings with telekinetic powers seeking human souls.

For me it was all a bit of a mess, though it looked good, and the music was very good as well.

Keifer Sutherland = 17/52.

William Hurt = 24/59.

Jennifer Connelly = 20/30.

David Wenham = 22/30.

My rating = 5/10.

The Slammin' Salmon. 2009. USA.

This was a new release at Video Ezy of which I knew nothing about, and apart from giant actor Michael Clarke Duncan, and a few cameo performances, the cast was unknown to me, and the plot of the movie did not look like it would be of great interest.

basically the story is a restaurant owner in Miami is indebted to the Yakuza and a competition is ran to see which waiter will earn the restaurant the most money in one night.

Most of the movie takes place over that one night.

So I went in with very low expectations, and after the first five minutes I thought they might have been too high. However, the movie picked up and there was some humour to be had with it, it wasn't brilliant by any stretch of the imagination, but it was at least funny in parts, and again could be a good movie to see with a group.

Video Ezy May new releases = 15/32.

My rating = 6/10.

Old Dogs. 2009. USA.

I have a love/hate relationship with Disney. They have produced some beautiful movies, movies to admire for generations, but then there is another side, and this movie represents that.

That is trash. Old Dogs is total garbage, not only is every scene more predictable than the last it is just a one dimensional cookie cutter movie straight out of a factory.

There is very little that is redeeming in this movie, from irritating children, to acts of injustice being found humorous, to over the top man gets hit in groin scenes.

There is some earnestness from Wiliams and Travolta but really there is nothing to work with here.

And the argument that it is a kids movie, so you know it's allowed to be garbage is insulting to both children and the movie industry.

One of the worst movies of 2009.

John Travolta = 29/46.

Robin Williams = 38/57.

Video Ezy May New Releases = 14/32.

My rating = 2/10.

Avalon. 1990. USA.

Good coming of age movie of children and grandchildren of immigrants who made America their home.

Aiden Quinn and Leo Fuchs are good, Joan Plowright is a standout, and a young Elijah Wood makes his mark in what was only his third movie.

Barry Levinson wrote and directed this one, and there is some definite heat and soul in it. Some parts drag a bit, but overall a good movie.

Elijah Wood = 25/34.

My rating = 7/10.

Ninja Assassin. 2009. USA.

An American production featuring Asian actors, amongst them Korean music star Rain, in this movie which is full of blood flying everywhere and action aplenty, but nothing else much going for it.

In short a very, very ordinary movie, and there is not really much to add to that, except, well this viewer does not recommend it.

Video Ezy May New Releases = 13/32.

My rating = 3/10.

The Outsiders. 1983. USA.

Some movies are famous for being brilliant, it could be the story, the effects, the acting, the direction, it could be anything, the same is true the other way, some movies are famous for being really terrible in one of the above mentioned ways.

Then I think there is a movie like The Outsiders, which is more famous for who was in it than the actual movie, it has an incredible array of well know faces:-
List - C Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, Diane Lane, Leif Garrett, and Tom Waits, that's an impressive list in any man's language!

Anyway, with all those names, even though most of them at the time were not stars, and with the movie directed by Frances Ford Coppola, you could almost expect a major classic, but for me it was an average coming of age movie, made more interesting trying to spot the names in their younger guises.

Not a classic, but worth watching again for who you see. Maybe that could be a new sub-genre, not what but who movies.

Tom Waits = 11/25.

Emilio Estevez = 16/28.

Tom Cruise = 27/34.

Patrick Swayze = 12/32.

Rob Lowe = 21/33.

Diane Lane = 15/40.

My rating = 6/10.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. 2009. UK.

The final movie performance from Heath Ledger before his tragic death is the ultimate drawing card for this movie, which is Gilliam going berserk with his imagination.

An extraordinary movie, imagination wise, it is a movie which in other hands could have been abysmal, and at times it sails close to the wind, it is lifted by the sense of imagination Gilliam has and by the acting performances of Christopher Plummer, heath Ledger, and the 'guest' roles of heath's mates finishing his role for him, Depp, Law and Farrell.

The plot? You really need to watch the movie, and going into it just knowing it is a feast of imaginative ideas is the best way to approach it.

A good solid movie, which sadly signals the end of Heath's movie career.

Johnny Depp = 31/38.

Heath Ledger = 17/19.

Jude Law = 28/31.

Tom Waits = 10/25.

My rating = 7/10.

Robin Hood. 2010. USA.

I am not against remakes, or reinterpretations, this is in the latter camp I think, but that is another story. there is, after all, more than one way in which a story can be told, as long as the source material is interesting, and the execution is performed well.

Most remakes are done poorly, reinterpretations are a mixed bag, this one, well this is almost in the too hard basket.

It is a beautiful looking movie, and has a fantastic performance from Cate Blanchett, who can appear strong, independent, and vulnerable at the same moment, but at the very core, there lacks something here, there lacks a depth or a heart to the story, something which makes you want to remember it.

Crowe is solid in his role, but nothing spectacular, or really memorable.

It also has Ridley Scott's annoying desire to revision the Crusades, as in Kingdom of Heaven, and make the Muslims the victims and the Christians the evil ones, when both were as wrong as each other in reality.

The movie also lacks the heart and charm of other Robin Hood versions especially the Costner/Mastrantonio/Rickman version.

This is an average movie, which is lifted by Cate Blanchett, William Hurt, and to a lesser extent Max Von Sydow.

Russell Crowe = 16/31.

Cate Blanchett = 30/34.

William Hurt = 23/59.

My rating = 7/10.

Half-Baked. 1998. USA.

A stoner movie, featuring Dave Chappelle in the lead role, Rachel True as the leading lady, and a host of cameos of famous actors playing various types of pot smokers.

Joanna Bacalso, who I noticed the other day. is in a small role playing a 'henchwoman' although there was not much 'henching' going on.

Silly plot, which was just a disguise to show you stoner jokes and the above mentioned cameos. Not bad, not that flash either.

Joanna Bacalso = 4/12.

My rating = 5/10.

Black Dog. 1998. USA.

When the best part of a movie is the song playing in the end credits, you know there are problems with the quality of the movie.

Black Dog is a Patrick Swayze 'vehicle' and it does involve a 'vehicle' - he is driving a truck load full of illegal weapons in this good guys vs bad guys movie.

Swayze is the good guy in this and amongst the bad guys is the bat out of Hell himself Meat Loaf Aday.

One highlight in the movie is the evergreen actor Stephen Tobolowsky who just has that charisma every time, it seems. (Although part of you when you seem always wants to say You remember me Ned, Ned Ryerson!)

Overall a very poor movie, with some nice truck driving scenes, and plenty of explosions to keep those who like them entertained. For me that is just not enough!

Meat Loaf Aday = 08/38.

Patrick Swayze = 11/32.

Stephen Tobolowsky = 30/80.

My rating = 4/10.

Endgame. 2009. UK.

The plot of this movie is the behind the scenes negotiations leading up to the release of Nelson Mandella and the end of apartheid.

There is a saying that real politics is not like movies and is quite boring, well if that is true, this movie must be real politics because it was quite dull.

William Hurt was fine in his role, as he usually is, Derek Jacobi is there as well, which surprised me since I thought he was dead!

The rest are fairly unknown to me, and did OK, the trouble was the material was just so dull, and it was disappointing that a story that could have been so fascinating was just boring.

A major disappointment to me.

William Hurt = 22/57.

Video Ezy May New Releases = 11/32.

My rating = 4/10.

Cash. 2010. USA.

Apparently this one opened nationally in the USA on April 09 2010 at the cinemas and was released on DVD in Australia on May 05 2010. Go figure!

This is a story of what greed and the love of money will do to you, a moral tale in one sense, a thriller in another, and an exacting story of the destruction of one man in another.

Surprisingly has a feel good ending.

One highlight is actor Glenn Plummer playing the character Glen the Plumber, only because I thought that was funny!

Sean Bean is very good in his role and the supporting cast is good as well, the movie overall is average, but a good enough ride to be had here.

Video Ezy New Releases May 2010 = 10/32.

My rating = 6/10.

The Sergei Bonderchuk Awards May 09 2010 - May 15 2010

WORST MOVIE: Bloodrayne.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Charlie Hunnam (Green Street Hooligans)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Mary Steenburgen (Did You Hear About the Morgan’s?

BEST ACTOR: John Malkovich (Changeling)

BEST ACTRESS: Angelina Jolie (Changeling)

BEST DIRECTOR: Ang Lee (Eat Drink Man Woman)

MOST SURPRISING MOVIE: No Man’s Land.

MOST DISAPPOINTING MOVIE: Snow Dogs.

BEST SHORT MOVIE: N/A.

BEST MOVIE: Changeling.

Day Zero. 2007. USA.

The amount you like this movie may be dependant on three factors

01.Whether you find the premise credible - the premise being the reintroduction of the draft to military service in the USA, and whether you can believe that three friends would all be drafted at the same time.

02. Whether you believe that premise was executed in a likely manner.

03. The believability of the actors playing the three characters who were drafted.

I found the premise highly improbable, but accepted it for the sake of the movie, I found the execution even more unlikely and was disappointed we did not get a real insight into political machinations and the protest movement and the things that would have in reality been happening. We got glimpses of this but not enough.

the acting performances varied Chris Klein was out of his depth, Jon Bernthal did well, Ginnifer Goodwin and Elisabeth Moss were both good. Ally Sheedy was there as well in a small role, looking older than I remember her.

the standout performance though was from Elijah Wood, who stole the movie and whose journey we followed the best, and whose character was I found the most unlikely and the most believable if that makes sense.

Overall an average movie which could have been so much more.

Elijah Wood = 24/34.

My rating = 6/10.

Eat Drink Man Woman. 1994. Taiwan.

Ang Lee directs this beautifully crafted movie of an aging chef, who is losing his sense of taste, and is looking after his three grown daughters all living at home.

Part soap, part comedy, part drama, and with amazing food scenes, this movie is a visual feast, and plays its hand perfectly.

A beautifully rendered family drama which is almost pitch perfect.

The final scene is as beautiful as you can get.

Well recommended.

Ang Lee = 7/11.

My rating = 8/10.

Pink Cadillac. 1989. USA.

It's not often now that I can say that here is a Cline Eastwood movie I have not seen, but here is one.

Eastwood is a bail bondsman who must hunt female fugitive, with predictable results.

Lots of shooting, Eastwood being Eastwood, and some nice tunes to go with it, especially the end track, Anywhere the Wind Blows.

Not a lot here to remember, but a nice average Eastwood outing. The most recent Eastwood movie I have not seen is now Breezy from 1973.

Clint Eastwood = 49/59.

My rating = 6/10.

Bloodrayne. 2005. USA.

Critics sometimes say that x actor did not seem interested in his performance, or Y actor telephoned his performance in, well never were these sentiments so true than in this movie for actor Ben Kingsley.

This was a very poorly directed movie, from a director with not many fans, Uwe Boll.

With such a big cast (Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Michelle Rodriguez, Meat Loaf, Billy Zane, and Geraldine Chaplin) and material that could be interesting if in the right hands, a tale of a half human half vampire in the eighteenth century, but due to a poor script and even poorer direction the movie went nowhere.

Kinglsey obviously saw this and his performance showed he no longer cared, the other cast members were not far behind.

A major disappointment for many careers.

Ben Kingsley = 24/54.

Michelle Rodriguez = 08/13.

Meat Loaf Aday = 07/38.

My rating = 3/10.

The House Bunny. 2008. USA.

Just like The Hangover, which I reviewed just previously, I saw the trailers for this in the cinema, and just like the Hangover I decided that it was not worth shelling out my money to see.

It looked awful! Well time passes by and my manager loaned me this movie, one of three movies, so far I have seen two this and White Chicks.

Well this was better than White Chicks, but then again, that is not a testimonial in itself.

This was what the main character was accused of being largely vapid.

The story of this playboy bunny helping out a nerd filled sorority seemed to be almost a female reinvention of Revenge of the Nerds.

Anna Faris good in her role, and Colin "son of Tom" Hanks is good as her male love interest Oliver.

It was a pretty flaky piece of fairy floss and of course ended up with the sweet moral "be who you are" although by that point no one seemed to be who they were anyway.

But it is not a movie to come under close scrutiny, it is what it is, not spectacular, and not mind numbingly awful, a below average comedy with some laughs and at its centre its heart is in the right place.

Colin Hanks = 5/18.

My rating = 5/10.

The Hangover. 2009. USA,

I remember seeing the trailers for this movie at the cinema and immediately my mind went to the horrible movies I had seen recently before that, which seemed to be of a similar genre. Movies like Super Bad (Which I called Super Stinker) and You Don't Mess With the Zohan (which is is my bottom three worst ever movies) and so I did not go and see it.

Finally i decided to watch it, it is actually a solid entertaining movie, I think it is more of a crowd movie, that is you can be swept along with other people laughing along, but for what it is it was quite enjoyable.

All the performances were good, the stand out being Zach Galifiankis, and Heather Graham was good in her small role and she still looks young.

It was not a movie to think deeply about, and if you did you would soon wear holes in the plot, it was a silly, light movie, but it was well executed and a solid piece of entertainment.

Watch this one with a group.

Heather Graham = 21/51.

My rating = 7/10.

Fuzzy Settles Down. 1944. USA.

This wins an award straight up for one of the weirder movie titles out there. I'm sure some people in this era would have been excited to see a movie featuring long running character Fuzzy, but most of them would now be no longer around.

Considering this movie has including my vote, a total of twenty-nine votes on IMDB, it is not one of the more well seen movies.

The movie features Buster Crabbe, Olympic athlete and star of many well known characters, Tarzan, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Bill the Kid, and this one, Billy Carson.

Fuzzy is played by comic actor Al St. John, who acted in movies from 1912 through to 1952.

The plot is irrelevant, here the good guys actually wear white hats and the bad guys wear black hats. Not just metaphorically, but literally!

It is a fun ride getting there, but is definitely a 'B' western and pretty forgettable.

This was part of my 250 Western movies box set and I have now seen 30/250.

My rating = 6/10.

Green Street Hooligans. 2005. USA.

There were a number of reasons I had doubts over this move -
1. It is about football (soccer) hooliganism and I could not imagine feeling any sympathy for the characters.

2. It was a US/UK co- production, with the majority finance coming from the USA. What would they know about the subject.

3.It had Elijah Wood in it. he is a fine actor, but becoming a hooligan? Could I buy that. I had thoughts of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Killshot, trying to be a tough guy.

So the plot is wrongfully expelled Harvard student (Wood) goes to England to be with his sister and gets involved with hooligans, the main one, Pete, in a great performance by Charlie Hunnam.

The US aspect did not play a major part, and it seemed to be true to its UK heritage, and whilst you did not feel any sympathy for the characters, there was empathy even though you were repulsed at their life style.

There was a small 'twist' in the revealing of a character, but it was fairly obvious from a long way out.

The major plus for the movie was that Elijah Wood was convincing in his performance going from green American student to Green Street Hooligan. We traveled with him on his journey and could see the transformation happen before us. It is also true that as an actor, Wood is a lot better than Gordon-Levitt.

An impressive movie, for what could have been very unimpressive.

Elijah Wood = 23/34.

Charlie Hunnam = 5/6.

My rating = 7/10.

White Chicks. 2004. USA.

Some names in movies are automatically associated with quality, some on the other hand are associated with what could be called dreck.

The Wayans brothers are often associated with the latter type of movies.

White Chicks is again a movie that you go into with extremely low expectations, and even that is not particularly helpful.

Basic plot outline is two disgraced African-American FBI agents pose as the Wilson sisters, two vapid heiresses of a Hotel empire, (Hilton sisters anyone) to uncover some sort of kidnapping plot which is never really fleshed out fully as it is superfluous to the men dressing as chicks.

The interesting part is how at its deepest undercurrents the movie is quite homophobic.

Some humour to be had, but it is really predictable and is lowest common denominator humour.

the running time was also too long, and could have done with about twenty minutes cut out.

Overall a fairly ordinary comedy, which will satisfy fans of its genre, not this viewer however.

My rating = 4/10.

No Man's Land. 1987. USA.

No Man's Land is a classic nineteen eighties film, classic in the sense of the word, that nearly everything about it screams the eighties.

It is written by Dick Wolf, who later created Law and Order and stars DB Sweeney and Charlie Sheen. Sheen acted in this film in the period between Platoon and Wall Street.

Also featuring are Randy Quaid, Bill Duke, who you may not know by name but you would by sight. The evergreen small part actor M Emmet Walsh, and in his movie debut, in a bit part as a waiter, one Brad Pitt.

The basic story is very 'fast and furious' like with a cop (Sweeney) going undercover to find out who killed a cop with a car stealing gang, who are stealing porches, with Sheen as the guy he befriends. Is Sheen the real bad guy or is it a rival car stealing gang?

Randy Quaid plays the detective that sends him undercover.

All in all it is quite average, with some nice parts, but nothing overtly memorable, but movie careers start somewhere, and whilst DB Sweeney and Charlie Sheen's careers have gone in different directions Brad Pitt's star has risen a long way since then, and M Emmet Walsh still plays those small roles!

Bill Duke = 10/23.

DB Sweeney = 09/33.

Charlie Sheen = 23/50.

M Emmet Walsh = 31/105.

Brad Pitt = 34/38.


My rating = 6/10.

Taking Woodstock. 2009. USA.

The story behind the Woodstock music festival, is a very finely crafted movie by director Ang Lee.

It creates the time and the ambiance of what you would expect from the Woodstock festival, and has some nice character drama as well.

The cast is a mixture of newcomers and old hands, with Emile Hirsch and Liev Schrieber stealing the scenes they were in.

Jonathon Groff, in his movie debut was very good, and could be someone to look out for. Eugene Levy for once gave an understated performance and did not ham it up, although at times the temptation seemed to be there.

Overall a very well made movie, from a very fine director.

Emile Hirsch = 7/12.

Kevin Chamberlain = 6/11.

Jonathon Groff = 1/1.

My rating = 8/10.